Monday, January 28, 2008

Some Additives About Burma That I Missed

I forgot to mention more about the Moustache Brothers. I did not want to write about them from Burma since all outgoing mail is scanned for certain words. The Moustache Brothers were the comedy troupe we went and saw in Mandalay. They were blacklisted by the government years ago for making political jokes. As a result they can only perform for tourists in their home. Crazy stuff. No Burmese people are allowed to hire them and they can't work anywhere. They were amazing guys and are super brave even with so much suppression. 2 out of the 3 of them went to jail for years because they told a political joke at an outdoor event. They still speak up nightly about the government and all the things the government does and hides from tourists so you don't see it. They still have some good jokes about the government too (like why do you leave Burma to go to the dentist, because you don't want to open your mouth in that country.....ha ha [or something along those lines]). We took some videos of their show and we hope to figure out how to post them. It is great to see such strong people who stand up for what is right even when the consequences can be so harsh. It is too bad the rest of their family go on the blacklist with them so their wives and sisters are also part of the show. Well I guess that is another blurb... I thought I had more to say but I can't think of what it was now. Take care, Sonya:)

1 comment:

epump said...

Hi Sonya and Addi

We got home last night from Florida. Had a very good time. Played golf 6 times, went inland fishing with Annie, Dave Stockwell, Greg Mee and his daughter Jenna - we each caught 6 to 10 fish, but only 1 keeper, a trout that I caught. We had the guide fillet the fish. We took it back to Gave and Greg's condo where Annie prepared it as a snack to eat with a round of drinks. The fishing cost $650 for 5 people and the fish weighed c3lbs - $200/lb. WOW - maybe I'll go vegetarian too.
Nonetheless, it was a very nice day on the water.

We also went to Key West for 3 days. What a great town. A lot of restored older homes with nicely maintained yards. Some good bars with live entertainment - of course we had to stop at Margueritaville - $8 a drink.
While we were there the Acura sailboat race series was in Key West. 2,600 sailors on 260 boats. We saw them leave the harbour Monday morning - it was quite a site. Unfortunately, we couldn't see any of the races because they were 3 - 5 miles offshore.

I have just read all of your blog site. Sounds like you are having fun and enjoying the trip.

We are all well here and hope that neither of you get sick again for the rest of the trip.

Love you both - look forward to seeing the pictures.